Tragedy at Mermet Springs Oct 2

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nagel

Contributor
Messages
481
Reaction score
24
Location
Knob Noster Missouri
# of dives
200 - 499
I really didn't want to be the person to report this, but we had a fatality at Mermet Springs this weekend. I don't know any of the details.....it really was not the time for me to be asking 'What Happened".

Here is what I know....

My group was getting ready to get suited up for a dive and we heard screaming coming from the water. There were several Rescue Classes going on so first thought was this was a rescue class. But, this scream was different. I turned and looked in the water a couple divers were yelling call 911 and a person on shore was pulling in a diver with a float. They pulled the diver up on the dock and immediately there were a dozen people there. We watched as they performed CPR, administered oxygen, and used the AED. It seemed like this went on and on, but finally the ambulance came and took the diver. We heard that the diver did not make it.

Very sad and like I said, I don't know any details. I can tell you that my hat goes off once again to the crew from Mermet and the divers that were there that helped with this. Immediately the emergency plan was initiated and people did what they could do. It seemed very odd, but I heard many comments from other divers that said, "if this happens to me, I hope I'm here at Mermet when it happens". The emergency response was simply awesome, but unfortionately the diver passed.

Snagel
 
His name was Kyle. He was from St. Louis. He was getting certified in anticipation of a trip to Cozumel with friends next week. He was really excited about the experience and had a great day. His first dive of the day went very smoothly and he was looking forward to getting back into the water for a second dive.

He was young and strong and fit. The odds say that he was probably the person in our group LEAST likely to have an incident while diving (other than our instructor of course.)

The instructor who pulled him to shore was absolutely nothing short of heroic. He kept his head about him every second that he was with Kyle. He pulled him to shore in what must have been record time while administering rescue breathing. He yelled clear instructions for help from the water while pulling Kyle to shore. He never left Kyle's side until the paramedics took him in the ambulance.

The staff at Mermet Springs was simply amazing. The minute the instructor called for help from the water, the staff began a well-choreographed response. Kyle was pulled from the water quickly and there were THREE physicians on the dock working diligently to save his life. Simply said, they did everything imaginable to save Kyle's life.

Kyle was kind. He was funny. And he was patient with my "Baby Bear" divers. We promise to keep him in our hearts.
 
I was there saturday and Sunday. It was awful....I have heard some very conflicting stories from "witnesses" and people who work for/with the dive shop that he was a student of. Does anyone know what happened?
 
[Copying my post from the other scuba message board site, as it seems that there are two separate threads going on this.]

As a friend of Kyle, I'd like to speak up and thank everyone on this thread for their sympathy. Friends and family are both shocked and confused, as none of us could be there with him during this horrific event. Obviously we may never know what truly caused this, however if anyone has any further information about this tragedy or the time he spent there at Mermet Springs, please feel free to share.
 
I certainly hope that the is some light shed on what happened & certainly wish peace & healing to the diver's loved ones. What a tragedy. I dove at Mermet just a couple of weeks ago. I frequently teach at a nearby quarry who's conditions can be similar to Mermet's at times. The quarry I teach at had horrible vis for the early part of the summer (5- 10 ft at best). I would only agree to take out 2 students at a time in those conditions. More work for me, but more safety for the students. As I came to find out, those conditions can be difficult to teach in & daunting for the students to go from a warm crystal clear pool to a cold, murky quarry.
 
I was there Saturday, and did witness the rescue. I was at the deep dock, so I was not very close. I don’t know anything about how it happened, but I can say that there were many people doing there very best to save Kyle. I hope this gives friends and family a small piece of mind, knowing what a professional attempt was launched to save him.
As to the visibility, it was pretty good for this part of the country. In the shallow it was 10-15’ and got better the deeper you went. I got certified in much worse conditions.
My condolences to all who knew him.
 
Hi everyone. I've been friends with Kyle for about 20 years. I'm also an advanced diver and was thrilled when he told me he was getting certified. I'm having a hard time with this in general and really would like to understand more about what happened in the water. The rescue attempts sounded first class - for which I am so thankful and now even more determined to complete my rescue dive cert. Anyway, if you were in the water with Kyle or have information beyond him getting separated from the group, please share it. We need some closure and all we've got are a lot of scary questions with no answers.

If you participated in helping to try to save Kyle's life, I thank you from the bottom of my heart -- as do all of his friends. I've always known the dive community to be amazing and I feel it more so now.
 
Hi everyone. I've been friends with Kyle for about 20 years. I'm also an advanced diver and was thrilled when he told me he was getting certified. I'm having a hard time with this in general and really would like to understand more about what happened in the water. The rescue attempts sounded first class - for which I am so thankful and now even more determined to complete my rescue dive cert. Anyway, if you were in the water with Kyle or have information beyond him getting separated from the group, please share it. We need some closure and all we've got are a lot of scary questions with no answers.

If you participated in helping to try to save Kyle's life, I thank you from the bottom of my heart -- as do all of his friends. I've always known the dive community to be amazing and I feel it more so now.

Divergirl, first, my condolences to you and Kyle's family. This was a bad weekend for midwest quarries - there was a death at Haigh on the same day; a 16 year old boy. From the news reports, it appears as if an initial unconfirmed autopsy report is pointing to a blood clot that broke loose and instantaneously killed the young man. Toxicology reports have been ordered and are expected to confirm or disprove these initial findings.

I am pointing this out, because Kyle's tragic death may have nothing to do with diving experience, diving conditions, or rescue attempts.

And, unfortunately, not all autopsy reports get into the media for those of us on the scuba chat forums to read about and discuss. In fact, very few ever do. Most of us are left wondering what happened with no explanation other than a person died and rescue attempts were heroric.

A simple reason for this has to do with the family's wishes and also the time it takes for a complete autopsy to reveal what happened. In some cases, by the time the autopsy is revealed, the media has moved on and the family is quite happy to greive in peace.

The sad fact is, there is never really any closure in these forums. An unexplained death occurs, sometimes with many witnesses. In some threads, there is great speculation based on gear setup and witness reports, but the real "why" is never made available.

Families don't worry about whether we have closure in the depth of their grieving and they shouldn't.

If you knew Kyle, and you need closure, my advice to you is to go to his funeral. Speak in confidence with his family about your anguish. Ask them to help you understand.

And, if their wishes are to keep the details private, do so.

My best wishes to you and his family.
 
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